𝐁𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐄

4

Would he suggest we meet up after classes, and if so, what did he have in mind?

I think about that as I get into my vehicle, a used Cruze with a dent in the back that came with the compact car. It was cool to fanatasize about having the cute little TA for a night or two, but I know that I can't keep him anyways. He has to be returned, he's loaned- not mine. My secrets and my double life would be too much to explain to him, and if I fail to pay my monthly dues on time, I'd be putting more than just myself at risk doing dealings with the club.

My phone starts to ring just as I exit the lot. NJ?

"Hello?" Uncertainty slides and dips in my tone as I answer the call. "Is this NJ?"

"Why yes, it so happens that it is," a twinkle could be heard in his voice, then he sobered to the moment, "I'm sorry for the late notice, but I need to help my brother out with something. Could we reschedule the Eiffel Tower to another day?"

I blink. "The Eiffel Tower?"

Overhead, the traffic lights change green and a huge truck with large, high wheels bellows out a long honk not even a millisecond after the light turned that likely could be heard from my classes. I don't floor the gas, but I get out of his way, switching from the left lane and watching as he barrels past with his windows down, blasting a Luke Combs song with a bottle of Corona in hand and a state university sticker plastered besides an American flag.

"I'm just joking," NJ laughs, the sound carrying through the phone, filling up my car. How would that sound in person, if he really were here?

"We should actually make plans though, see when we're both available," he suggested.

"Nothing after six," I tell him. "I value my sleep."

"Sleep is a rare occurrence around someone like me," NJ assures me, his voice falling into a tantalizing tone.

I find my tone softening like a fabric sheet going into the laundry. "Oh, why's that?"

"I gotta go, I'll catch up with you later."

The phone call ends and I sit my phone down in the next seat as I switch back to the other lane, the Luke Combs guy long gone. The sky is pale blue, speckled with white, fluffy clouds and the buildings alongside the road of the campus.

Each mile I drive puts me closer to Club Chiara, and each day that I lessen my dues, puts me closer to a chance at life. The club paid off my college fees, but now I owe them back, a condition I was never told about until a gun barrel was pressed against the side of my neck and I became indentured to them.

I make it back to my apartment, sighing onto my bed and trying to muster up the energy to go to work.

I shed my day skin, and slip on my night.

An opaque, black jumpsuit made of a sheer material stretched to my wrists down to my ankles, glossy and chunky heels at a moderate inch covering my feet. I wore a black harness set, my pierced nipples out for public view. The silver-studded harness set looped around my hips and circled around my breasts, coming together at my back to create an X.

I brush out my hair again and flip it around until I can decide how I'll wear it for tonight, then I take off my work clothes and try on my next set to make sure it looks good together.

Once I'm done packing my bag for tonight, I do some studying, wondering if NJ's family emergency was being handled and if I could get away with asking for some help on my work due Monday in Psychology, our assignment posted online.

I toy around with my phone, flipping it from hand to hand like a nervous schoolgirl scared to text her crush. Was that what I was doing right now? Is that how I felt about him? Maybe NJ would make a nice hookup, it'd be too much to assume that he'd wait around for me to pay my dues to the club, if I ever told him about it.